Using new tools to drive change

I'm looking forward to the 2010 Leadership Conference at the University of California, Berkeley. Kate Fowlie and I will be speaking about the use of new media to move an organization into the future. In other words, it's a talk about blogging, tweeting and facebook!

As a wonderful bonus I will meet with the IHI Open School, University of California at Berkeley Chapter.

Message from Congressman Miller

“Against all odds, history has been made. We promised health reform and we have delivered it.”
~Rep. George Miller (D-Martinez)

Congressman Miller is chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee. He co-authored the bill and a played a central role in the legislation over the past 13 months.

On his website: Miller points to direct benefits for our district.

“Individuals, families, small businesses, and taxpayers in my district will benefit...Never again will you be at risk of losing your insurance if you lose or change your job, children will be able to stay on their parents plans until age 26, insurance companies will no longer be allowed to deny coverage based on pre-existing conditions, and they will not be allowed to drop your coverage when you get sick.

Community health centers and hospitals in Solano and Contra Costa counties will be better able to serve their patients, and our economy will be stronger."

To read more and for a list of how the 7th district of California (that's us) will benefit please go to Congressman Miller's website.

A Rare Sunday Session. All Eyes on Congress

“We will go through the gate. If the gate is closed, we will go over the fence. If the fence is too high, we will pole vault in. If that doesn’t work, we will parachute in. But we are going to get health care reform passed.”

-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

Today's schedule: U.S. House of Representatives

1:00 pm EDT
LIVE House Session and Health Care Vote

You can watch it live on C-SPAN here.

Today our President and our Congress will demonstrate that America cares more about saving lives than saving the big insurance companies. When this historic Health Care Legislation passes in the House of Representatives today, I will cry tears of joy. It won't be perfect, but it is the first step.

Source: White House.gov

So many lost

Remembering Alfred

I want to talk about my brother-in-law Alfred. No one loved a good laugh more than Alfred and no one could develop a practical joke quite like him. Al was always laughing and always playful. This is a stark contrast to his very reserved and serious older brother who is bothered and humored by very little. Most would describe him as solid - very solid.

There are three brothers, and to have them all in the same room was quite amusing. The oldest brother (my husband) is very serious, the middle brother is best described as nice or perhaps sensitive (relatively speaking), and little brother Alfred a playful joker who brightened any room he entered. They were complete opposites, bickering and debating all the time. Yet much like my three boys, they were always gravitating to each other, always together.

-From left to right; big brother, little brother, middle brother-

The truth is I have no story. I just wanted to talk about Alfred. Our family lost him to suicide nine years ago today and I want to remember him. I have nothing profound to share. It's profound enough to live through the horror of suicide as a family. I’ll admit I do wish I could remember past the way he died, to how he lived. Sometimes I can remember past it, sometimes I can't. It’s unfair that suicide seems to quiet the celebration of a loved one’s life.

Every sixteen minutes someone is lost to suicide, every seventeen minutes someone is left behind.

New Chief Medical Officer

Dear CCRMC employees and partners,

Please join me in welcoming Dr. David Goldstein to his new appointment as Cheif Medical Officer of CCRMC and Heath Centers.

Dr. Goldstein trained in our Family Practice Residency
program from 1991-1994 and has been a Staff Physician ever since. He became Chief of the Emergency Department in 2002 and is a proven leader of quality improvement and change in our organization.

Dr. Goldstein will assume his new role effective April 19.

A bumpy flight

Here's to clever minds.

Just read Jonathan Rauch's "If Air Travel Worked Like Health Care Fasten your seat belts -- it's going to be a bumpy flight." He conveys a poignant message to those of us in health care in his short skit. You can find his original article on National Journal Magazine here.

Below is a well done enactment by Mary and Peter Alton.